Passing the test!

I took the "FAA Private Pilot Knowledge Test" today and passed!  Yay!  A 93%.

When was the last time you took a real test?  It's probably been awhile.  It has been for me.  You really have to shift gears and go back to your test taking days.  There is a skill involved in taking tests.

Of course, it helps if you've studied and know the material.  I took my ground school through the King School Online course.  It was exactly what I needed because I could consume the material at my own pace on my own time.

The course offers a set of practice exams that I used to prepare once I had completed the course.  After each practice exam I would go back and repeat the lessons for the questions I missed.

I supplemented this with the Jeppesen Private Pilot course books and test guides.  These are great resources to have in your library regardless of whether you need them for test prep.

One more item off the checklist!

Teaching vs Learning...

You can't "teach" anyone anything.

You can help people learn, but you can't actually "teach" them anything.  They must "learn" it.  Learning is done through some element of experience.  Helping someone learn is about creating that space where they can experience whatever it is you want them (or they want) to learn.  Further, we learn the most through trial, failure and re-trial.  So, helping someone learn is also about creating a safe place to fail.  The stakes for failure are pretty high in general aviation, so a flight instructor is first and foremost about keeping the learning place a safe place to fail.

Today I planned and flew a cross-country flight out to the foothill airport of Calaveras.  When we took off I asked my instructor, "...don't correct my mistakes unless I'm about to kill me, you, other people or otherwise seriously damage this plane or other property.  Let me see if I can catch and correct my mistakes."  He loved this idea.  Most of the time, flight instructors are trying to stay ahead of both the airplane and the students.  They want their students to enjoy the experience and not scare them off and out of flying (and they also want to avoid killing themselves).  Not me.  I want to learn.

For the most part the flight out went as I had planned it.  I hit the waypoints right on time.  I overflew the field and descended into the pattern.  The landing wasn't crisp, but it was good enough.  The airport sits up on a plateau which plays tricks on your visual perception (and I'm sticking with that story...).

We had a short debrief and then headed back out.  On my second VOR turn point, I neglected to change NAV frequencies to dial up the next VOR.  Matt said nothing.  I tooled along for awhile and then slowly realized something wasn't right.  I was flying a heading without the support of the Nav system because it was tuned in to the wrong navigational beacon.

Now I am flustered.  And, it takes me awhile to realize that I just needed to advance my last fix based on the time I'd been flying that heading, and I'd know pretty much where I was and how to get organized to get back to Livermore.  Matt had this big cat eating grin the whole time.  He knew it all along and well before  I did.

He created a safe place and he let me fail.  That's what makes him a great teacher.  I will NEVER make that mistake again.  However, had he caught the error right when it happened and said something, I would have corrected the mistake and flew merrily along, but I really wouldn't have learned anything.  Not likely anyway.

So, that's my big "ah ha!".  Teaching isn't really about teaching.  It's about helping people learn.  This is true for my kids, my employees and myself.

How do you help people learn?  Create an experience.  Don't tell them what to do.  Hang back.  Watch.  Listen.  Pose questions to help them think it through.  When they ask for help, don't help.  Ask more questions.  Help them think it through.

We are all in a hurry.  It's easier to jump in and do it for them.  Don't.  Let them suffer and persevere a bit.

In any endeavor there are life-and-death moments.  This is not only isolated to flying.  So, you do have to  "grab the controls" sometimes.  But, not nearly as often as we think.

Parents lecture endlessly at their kids.  Teachers stand at the whiteboard and hold forth with their ideas -- teaching.  Leaders in business tell everyone what to do.  Corporate training programs hose down participants with endless powerpoint presentations.  It's all done in the name of training and teaching.  And, yet, nobody is really learning anything.

From here on out I am going to stop teaching and instead help people learn...

It's For Real

Just to make sure yesterday wasn't a dream, I went by the flight school after work today.  They handed me the keys to the plane.  I walked out, preflighted it and all by my lonesome, made three trips around the pattern.  How cool is that!

I was much more nervous than yesterday.  The runways were turned opposite of their normal direction and there was quite a bit of traffic in the pattern.  So, I didn't want to push it.  3 take offs and landings were plenty for my first solo, solo.

I think the key for me will be doing these solo flights in little "sips" instead of big drinks.

Solo!

Today I took off and landed a plane by myself.  Alone.  I am pretty excited about this.  No, I am WAY excited about this.  I think the last time I felt this pumped up about something was at the birth of my kids.  You just don't get this mix of excitement, adrenaline and pride of accomplishment very often.

I met my instructor after work and took a short written test and an oral review of various operating procedures and emergency scenarios -- all things we'd been over many times.  Once he was satisfied, he endorsed my logbook for solo and we preflighted the plane and took off over the Altamont pass for the Byron airport.

The sun was starting to set.  A big moon was rising in the east.  The air was calm and the sky was clear.  We landed at Byron and as I was taxiing back to the runway he said, "...stop here."  Then he opened the door and looked at me and said, "...do three take offs and full stop landings.  Watch your airspeed.  You'll be fine..."  And that was it.  I was on my own.

He stood on the taxiway with a handheld radio while I taxied off.  On the first landing, I was a bit high and landed a little off center.  On the second landing, I flew a good pattern and pulled off a pretty good landing.  And, on the last one, it all came together and it felt great.  During the entire time I was soloing the only time he used the radio was to ask me how to turn on my video camera.

I was surprised about a few things.  First, while I was very jacked up on adrenaline, I didn't feel nervous.  Second, at some level, it's actually a little easier to learn and refine your skills alone than with an instructor.  I think there is just more mental airspace to work things out when you are alone.  You obviously can't be alone early in your training without killing yourself, but there is clearly a benefit to this solo thing.

After the third landing, I picked him up and we took off for Livermore. It was getting dark and by the time we made it back the runway was all lit up and I got to make my first night landing.  A very nice bonus on an already amazing day.

When we got back, the school owner insisted we walk back to the hanger and take a few pictures.  As he put it, "this is the only day that will ever be the day of your first solo..."  He is right!

The real credit goes to my instructors Matt and Rhett -- especially Matt with whom I fly most.  I was really at a loss for words except to tell them how much I appreciate them helping me get to this point safely and with confidence.

Click!

I can land an airplane now.  3 weeks ago I couldn't -- at least not very well.  It's funny how the learning curve goes -- up, down, flat, up, down.  For me this landing thing has finally clicked.

Today my instructor and I went out and did a short hop to Tracy, an uncontrolled airport a few minutes away and shot several landings there.  One was a simulated engine failure with a glide all the way down.

The pattern altitude is only 800' at Tracy -- less than the typical 1,000' at most airports.  So, you have to visualize the landing slightly differently than usual.  Good practice.

Then, we took a short hop north to the uncontrolled airport of Byron and did the same.  It was busy.  Gliders, skydivers and other student pilots all buzzing around.

All in all 11 landings -- all of them good enough to make it through the FAA exam according to my instructor (who might be a bit generous in his evaluation).

What did I learn?  I learned that landings are part process, part analysis and part feel.  You have to balance out all three aspects.

So what does me bragging about my landings have to do with the photo and the video in this post?  Before we took off, the owner of the flight school was taking a student up for his first jet flight.  Yes, jet flight. For a mere $2,200 per hour you too could do the same.

How cool is that!

Half Way There...

I hit the half way mark today.  Or, at least the theoretical half way mark.  I've logged 20 hours so far.  The minimum required for a Private Pilot Certificate is 40 hours though most students require more than this to be ready for their FAA check ride.  The national average according to the FAA is from 60 to 75 hours.

To date I've spent $4,645 including all of the aircraft rental charges, instructor fees, books, pilot supplies and ground school.  The second half of my training may be a bit less expensive as I'll be spending less on instructor fees (flying solo more) and I won't be buying the one-time items I needed getting started.  So, I'll wind up in the $6,000 - $8,000 range that is common for private pilots around the US.

There are a few ways I could have reduced the cost-to-date somewhat.  I could have flown an older, smaller or cheaper airplane.  But, I wanted to train in the airplane I would likely wind up flying with friends and family and I enjoy flying in a nicer, newer plane.  The hourly rate difference between a Cessna 172 from this decade as opposed to one built during the Nixon administration is about $30 an hour -- a potential savings of about $600 to this point.

I could have also chosen to learn with a flying club instead of a flight school.  Flying clubs are essentially not-for-profit so their aircraft rental rates are usually lower.  I flew with an instructor from the local club and attended one of their meetings.  It's a good option for some students but it has some drawbacks.  The biggest drawback is availability of the plane and instructors.  It will just wind up taking longer to get through training with a flying club because the instructor and aircraft availability is spotty.  The club is really setup to provide cheap, economical flying for its members -- not for training new pilots.  But it can work for some students and the rental rates are about 30% less than an equivalent plane at a flight school.

I feel very good about where I stand at this point.  Yesterday's flight was solid.  I had a good lesson plan made up and we executed as planned.  Though I need more practice on this, I had my best simulated engine failure landing yet.  And, all my landings ranged from acceptable to good (but nothing remotely close to great or perfect).

Despite the progress thus far, it's clear flying is something you never fully master and thus I will always be learning.  But, man am I having fun!

Rest in Peace...

This is my favorite speech by Steve Jobs:

How to Live Before You Die

At first I thought this post would be a digression from the main point of this blog.  But then I started thinking maybe learning to fly in middle age was one more way of "staying hungry and staying foolish."

Thanks, Steve.  You remain an inspiration to many...

The First Page...

Somebody told me that when you fill the first page of your pilot log book it is cause for celebration.  Mission accomplished.  After 18 hours and 50 landings I still feel like I am just starting to figure this out.

But, that won't stop me from a little celebration!

Draggin' your tail...

Alex (my son) has decided tail draggers* are where it's at.  I get it.  I think if you look up "fun flying" in the dictionary, it shows a picture of this plane -- a "Citrabria."   (Quiz:  What does Citabria spelled backwards mean?)

This was his first flight in a tail dragger and he loved it.  He and his instructor both seemed a little queasy when they got down so there must have been some fun aerobatics going on up there.

Meanwhile, I sauntered off in the boring, old Cessna 172 for landing practice.  Ho-hum...

On the drive home from the airport we had one of those memorable talks you sometimes have as a parent.  He was commenting on how much he LOVED flying.  I told him that it has taken me a long time to learn that you need to pay attention to those feelings.  At the risk of sounding melodramatic, I told him those feelings are the "voice of God" speaking to you.

We are each called to a different purpose in life and that purpose isn't always obvious.  But I've learned that those feelings of intense engagement -- what Aristotle called "Eudaimonia" or "flow"-- are signals or signs that help us figure out a direction in life.

Unfortunately, may of us are brought up believing that if something is fun or engaging or captivating or otherwise speaks to us, it somehow must not be appropriate or righteous, or worthy.  I wish I had learned this 30 years ago, but I know it now.  This is why I'm supporting his flying habit.

To Alex's credit, he could have just rolled his eyes, plugged in his iTouch and tuned me out.  Instead, he just nodded and sat there.  And, then he said, "hey, when are we flying again?"

Soon my friend, soon...



*The term "Tail Dragger" refers to aircraft whose landing gear has a tail wheel instead of a nose wheel.  They are more challenging to fly but are often more interesting to fly.  While many people think of them as relics from the past, most of the hot, aerobatic planes are tail draggers.  Think of them as airplanes with a manual transmission instead of an automatic transmission...